The Kremlin said it will monitor the NATO summit opening today in Washington with "greatest attention", as the organization "considers Russia its enemy,", France Press reported, BTA reported.
"This is an alliance that considers Russia its enemy, its adversary. An alliance that has repeatedly stated openly that its goal is to strategically defeat Russia on the battlefield. That is why we will monitor the rhetoric of the talks that will take place and the decisions that will be made with the utmost attention," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said at a press conference.
Leaders of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, which has expanded to 32 countries to include Finland and Sweden since Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, are gathering in Washington today for a summit to confirm their support for Ukraine, but is dominated by a sense of political uncertainty ahead of the US presidential election in November.
Since the start of the war, NATO countries have provided vital military aid to Ukraine, although Kiev has expressed regret that their support is still insufficient.
President Volodymyr Zelensky, who will attend the summit, is expected to make a fresh plea to his Western allies for more air defense systems after a series of massive strikes on several Ukrainian cities that killed at least 37 people, and 150 were injured, including in a children's hospital in Kyiv.
Peskov confirmed today the Russian position, assuring that Russia does not carry out "any strikes against civilian targets". Ukraine, for its part, says that a Russian missile hit the "Okhmatdit" children's hospital with a direct hit yesterday. in the Ukrainian capital.